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Autumn Harvest Party - 1yr - Pumpkin Patch!

October 2004

Amy & Kory in Yorktown, IN  United States

Honorable Mention

Autumn Harvest Party - Pumpkin Patch Theme

For our sons 1st birthday, we wanted to do something fun and different from other themes like this.  So we decided on a Pumpkin Patch Theme with Green and Orange colors.

We started by making invitations.  We took our son's (Riley) Halloween pictures from last year where he was dressed up like a pumpkin.  We used the computer and a few graphic design programs to create an invitation that looked like a scrapbook page.  It was created to be printed out and folded in half, then mailed (It looked like a size 10 envelope when folded in half).  On the top of the invitation it said Our Little Pumpkin.   We flipped the page over and printed some pumpkin clipart on it around the mailing addresses.  We invited about 75 people and had about 50 showed up.    

We then went and bought plastic plates, forks, spoons, knives, and napkins that were green and orange colors.  We bought about 30 full size pumpkins and had a friend bring over about 20 bales of hay.  We scattered the pumpkins around the front yard and also painted HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY on the pumpkins.  Each letter of Happy Birthday was painted onto a pumpkin.  We also painted 1st onto a smaller pumpkin.  It was quite cute.  We sat those pumpkins on bales of hay in the front yard with Green and Orange balloons on each end of Happy Birthday. 

We also had scarecrows and other fall decorations setup in the front yard.   We setup the bales of hay in the backyard also, blocking off the in ground pool and using them as places to sit for everyone.  On the inside of the house we hung pumpkin decorations (like what you would see in an elementary school) and we also had autumn window decals that we placed throughout the 1st floor of the house.  

For food, we decided to serve chili, fried chicken and a number of other sides including caramel apples.  We also had bought Green and Orange plastic table cloths and paper maché pumpkin center pieces.   We had to make 2 different cakes because our son has a milk allergy.  His cake was cut into the shape of a pumpkin.   We used food coloring to turn the icing orange & a little green for the stem.  For the big birthday cake that we served to everyone we took a bunt cake pan and baked 2 bunt cakes.  We then stacked them on top of each other to look like a pumpkin.  We baked a cup cake and placed that on the top (in the middle where there was a whole) as a stem.  We then used food coloring to create orange and green icing.  Both cakes were adorable and were the conversation piece of the day!   We knew there would be smaller children attending the party as well.

From prior parties we had attended we knew that sometimes little ones get jealous if they don’t get a present also.  So we bought 10 small paper bags that were the color & material of a grocery sack.  Then we traced scarecrows, pumpkins, and other fall clipart onto the bags using carbon paper.  After we were finished tracing them we used colored pencils to color them in.     We had also went to the Dollar Store and bought fun little games and trinkets to put into the bags for the children.  We had Scooby Doo Halloween stickers, Halloween straws, and many other fun little things.  The kids loved getting those at the same time Riley was opening his presents. 

At the end of the party we let every child and family take home a pumpkin (or 2) for Halloween.  Everyone loved the Pumpkin Patch Theme and had such a wonderful time.  Riley had a blast playing with everyone, eating his cake, and playing with all the other children & their toys.  We were also able to re-use all the decorations.    

One week after Riley's birthday party we had to attend my nephew’s birthday party and all of my family couldn't stop talking about how cute our party theme was. (We even let my mom borrow some of the decorations and use it for our nephew’s party).

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